Ensconced in their van driving back from Ontario, the members of Boogie Patrol were happy to report that they didn’t feel so far from home after all.

“Everywhere we’ve been, even in places we’ve never played before, it seemed like half the audience already knew us from somewhere,” explained “Rott’n” Dan (Shinnan), the group’s lead singer and spokesman, speaking on his mobile phone around Winnipeg. “It feels like there’s a lot more ripe fruit to come from this trip.”

The tour marks several milestones for the Edmonton-based quintet that plays “blues and funky rock ‘n’ soul” by the singer’s approximation. While they have played showcase dates before in Toronto, this was their first extended tour to Eastern Canada. The band is celebrating the release of their fourth album, Man on Fire, the group’s biggest, most polished project yet.

It’s also a decade now since Rott’n Dan and guitarist Yuji Ihara decided to put Boogie Patrol together, with bassist Nigel Gale joining soon after. Personnel shuffles over the past few years now find drummer Emmet VanEtten and second guitarist Chad Holtzman filling out the lineup of what must be Edmonton’s hardest-working blues unit (some 60 dates around western Canada last year) and they remain a killer live band.

This is the same band that won the Edmonton Blues Society’s competition to represent our city at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis three times now, getting to the semi-finals of that hugely competitive contest in 2014. Opening for the likes of Buddy Guy and The Fabulous Thunderbirds and playing occasional festival dates also helped build their fan base.

“We have changed. There’s no doubt you’ll hear an evolution over the four albums. Early on, we had keyboards for a few years and that gave it a totally different sound. Now, with a five piece with two guitars and the two newest members being powerhouse musicians and stellar singers, too, it adds a new element of harmonies and backup vocals which has never truly existed before. It’s a whole bigger vibe going on.”

The biggest difference you hear in the first few seconds of Man on Fire is the addition of horns to a few tracks. The band has been friends with Calgary’s Mocking Shadows for years and they recorded near Calgary in part to use the MS horns (Kim Beachum, Gareth Hughes, Carsten Rubeling), with the added expertise of Winnipeg’s Murray Pulver penning tasty horn arrangements and co-producing the album. Guest keyboardist Marc Arnould adds organ, electric piano or clavinet to various tracks.

“We wanted to add horns to some songs for a few years now, like the opening track Players Blues, or the third track, Foolish Mind, rides that edge between rock ‘n’ roll and the Memphis sound. We could totally feel that and we wanted horns on it. This album was so many years in the making we really wanted to make it a sonic party and we weren’t about to cut any corners.”

In fact, they went into the studio about a year ago, just a month after the release of their third disc, Alive. While it was too expensive to take the horns on their recent eastern tour, the horn section will join them again for CD release dates in Edmonton and Calgary.

Shinnan and Ihara still co-write most of the band’s tunes, but he says it has become more of a group effort over the years. The other change is that their songs are shorter.

“When we started our sets, we would have five songs that would be 10 minutes a piece. Now they’re a lot shorter and more concise, like three or four minutes each, but we still like to make room to breathe and stretch things out playing live. It’s about playing more songs and picking your battles. That definitely plays a role in how you approach things and we you still might hear a tribute to the Isley Brothers or James Brown in the show.”

Despite the studio polish, Man on Fire still packs a well-balanced set of blues and soul styles as Shinnan keeps his energy up, with a nod to Joe Cocker on steroids for some tracks. They also had a few comments on the racy content of some lyrics for songs like Shaker Down Below, but Shinnan points out such lyrics have been part of blues and funk music for decades.

“We may be our own worst critics, but we’re totally happy with this album and we have no problems putting it in anyone’s hands.”

The new album will be available April 28 from iTunes, CDBaby and at the shows, with the hope that it helps spread Boogie Patrol’s name even further. Their next goal is making it to Europe.

“After 10 years, looking at the bigger picture, it’s starting to make a little more sense. We’re sounding good, playing good and feeling good.”

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